The Sundanese dance jaipong is among the extracurricular activities offered at State High School 39 in China's capital of Beijing, where at least 60 students attended classes in the traditional dance from West Java on Wednesday.

For an hour and a half, students from China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Argentina were mimicked the movements of their instructor Titik Parmuji from the Indonesian Institute of Art (ISI) in Surakarta, as reported by news agency Antara.

The multinational class was excited, as the dance they were learning was accompanied by the energetic Sundanese song "Manuk Dadali". The dance drew so much interest from students that the extracurricular activity classrooms were unable to accommodate all students in one session.

"Every week, there are two art classes. This time, we have receive support from the Indonesian Embassy to provide lessons in traditional Indonesian arts," said Zuo Fulin, the school’s deputy principal.

He noted that his students were already familiar with traditional Indonesian arts, especially the musical instrument angklung. "Almost every year, we hold angklung performances by students. We also introduce the angklung to residents of Luoyang [in Henan province] when students go on their study tour there," he said. (liz/wng)